Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Companies are part of the same economic world; they are facing the same economic imperatives. They must have the same management capacities, regardless of the company's nature or structure. In a crisis situation, one of the key features that sets cooperatives apart from share-ca

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  A cooperative is a company. It has a board of directors that ensures the company's sustainability. Some of our results will help other cooperatives. That is not our priority, unless we're talking about cooperatives from our network. As Ms. Harel said earlier, we provide support s

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  We at La Coop fédérée think it is important for the Rural and Co-operatives Secretariat to be transferred to Industry Canada. That belief is based on Quebec's experience. Cooperatives should be the responsibility of Industry Canada, which develops businesses. That body often esta

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  As several people—including Mrs. Simard—have said many times, we need a mechanism if we want to have dynamic cooperatives. You will call it what you want, but the mechanism will consist in supporting and counselling cooperatives, so that the government can understand what goes on

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  In connection to what Mrs. Simard said, we have introduced La Coop fédérée to you. That company has a network, $6 billion in sales and a 90-year history. Ninety years ago, cooperatives were created with the help of the agriculture, land and forestry department's regional agrologi

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Outside Quebec, it is a matter of acquiring companies. We are very present in southern Ontario in the farm input business, but that has been achieved through company acquisition. We are also present in Alberta, in Red Deer. Once again, we acquired a slaughter house in Alberta.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  I think there is room for the cooperative movement. When people take matters into their own hands, they manage to do some pretty great things. The Notre-Dame-de-Montauban example shows that La Coop fédérée's board of directors has been willing to sacrifice a portion of its reven

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Yes, we have several. Olymel is the most well-known of them, but we have several.

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  The first principle that applies to us is the obligation to follow the rules. However, major companies can create subsidiaries to adapt to the regulations. The study shows that, for most cooperatives, the tax burden is greater than it is for share-capital businesses. La Coop féd

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  The comment I made about price hypervolatility is not really a concern for La Coop fédérée. That is not a threat to us. I was referring to Canada, as a whole. Agri-food is a more stable sector, particularly because of the cooperative presence. These are businesses that cannot m

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  It dramatically increases the risks involved with managing a farm in Canada, because input costs hinge on grain prices. A farmer may see a highly volatile market with very swift peak periods as a great opportunity to make a profit. But, as they say, what goes up must come down. W

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  For many years, La Coop fédérée has been accessing federal government R and D programs. Sometimes we have to find roundabout ways of accessing some of those programs because cooperatives are not always directly eligible. What we often do is partner with other businesses in order

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  I will end with a point on the liberalization of agricultural trade. And that point is this: we cannot stress enough the importance of regulating that trade. To quote something Paul Krugman, the 2008 Nobel Prize winner in economics, said in addressing a forum: We had a very ser

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Mr. Chair, what means are at the government’s disposal to provide added support and greater opportunities and visibility for Canadian cooperatives? We believe that a healthy and balanced economy rests on three fundamental pillars: a dynamic and highly productive private sector;

Special Committee on Cooperatives committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am going to give part of the presentation and my colleague, Jean-François Harel, the general secretary at La Coop fédérée, will give the other part. First, I wish to thank the committee for inviting us and allowing us to share our point of view on the pl